Alabama sets a good example; Georgia, not so much (Joey Kennedy)

The Scottsboro Boys after being arrested in 1931. (Photo courtesy of the Scottsboro Boys Museum)

We did good. We should give ourselves a pat on the back. And today, be thankful we're not Georgia.

The Alabama House gave final passage to a bill that sets up a process to allow pardons of the Scottsboro Boys. Of course, there's no way to undo the damage caused when the nine African-American youths were accused and convicted of raping two white women in the early 1930's. There was scant evidence of the crime, but all-white juries convicted them of the crime over several trials. At one point, they were sentenced to death.

Eventually, some of the men were acquitted; others spent time in prison. In 1976, Clarence Norris, the only Scottsboro Boy alive, was pardoned by Gov. George Wallace.

Alabama law, however, prohibited posthumous pardons. The bill passed by the Legislature will allow that -- in this case.

Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, the bill's sponsor noted that this doesn't change history or the fact the Scottsboro Boys were victims of a grave injustice, but that it's "never too late to right a wrong."

And for now, at least, thank God we're not Georgia.

In Wilcox County, Ga., down in the rural south of the state, the prom queen at Wilcox County High School is fighting for -- get this -- the first integrated prom at the high school. In 2013.

Since the school was integrated decades ago, parents decided to pay for segregated proms instead of a school-sponsored prom. What a terrible example these parents have given their children. This kind of behavior is what perpetrates racial division.

Quanesha Wallace was voted prom queen this year, but the prom king is white. As it stands, she can't attend a prom with many of her other friends -- or have the traditional dance with the prom king -- simply because they are white.

So Wallace and her friends, black and white, are organizing their own integrated prom. They are setting a good example for their parents, who ought to be ashamed. It should be the other way around.

In Alabama today, we are doing the best we can to right a terrible wrong from more than 80 years ago. And in Georgia, high school kids who just want to get along have been prevented from doing so for decades by closed-minded, backward-looking adults.

Today, Alabama beats Georgia somewhere besides on the football field.

Joey Kennedy, a Pulitzer
Prize-winner, is a community engagement specialist for AL.com and The Birmingham News. Reach him at jkennedy@al.com.

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